By Donna Cornelius
If you ask Jason Davidson what fruits and vegetables you’ll find at his Homewood produce stand, you may want to pull up a chair.
It’s a pretty long list that ranges from arugula to zucchini.
“Almost everything we sell is grown by my family in Chilton county,” Davidson said.
He and his wife, Sheila, live in Clanton. But on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for the past three years, their J&S Produce stand has been a regular fixture at Trinity United Methodist Church in Homewood.
“My father, Bennie Davidson, has had a produce stand in Bluff Park for 20-some-odd years,” Jason Davidson said. “Some of the church people here at Trinity had been buying from my dad for a long time and wanted us to open a stand here.”
Growing veggies and fruits comes naturally to Davidson, he said.
“My family has been farming all my life,” he said. “I got out of it briefly and did carpentry work. When the housing industry got bad, I came back to farming.”
He’s happy that he decided to return to his roots, he said.
“We’re in our third season at Trinity now, and our business has been progressively growing every year,” Davidson said. “Trinity has been awesome to us.”
The stand is in the parking lot between Trinity and Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, drawing people from both churches, he said.
“Dawson folks have been good to us, too,” Davidson said.
All J&S Produce customers can find plenty of choices. This time of year, tomatoes are front and center – and not just regular red versions but also green and grape tomatoes. Chilton county peaches are plentiful, too.
“Just looking at our stand and going down the line, we have cucumbers, squash, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, Vidalia onions, eggplants, and red, green and yellow bell peppers,” Davidson said. “We have bicolored corn and Silver Queen corn, and we have fresh-shelled peas.”
Fruits include watermelons, cantaloupes, plums, cherries, lemons and bananas.
“We also have organic lettuce, kale and arugula,” Davidson said. “There’s a younger generation of customers here in Homewood, a lot of exercising people, and they like the organic stuff.”
Another J&S product has been a sweet success.
“The demand is so big for our peach blossom honey,” Davidson said. “The hives are right next to our peach fields in Chilton County.”
His favorite thing about operating the produce stand is “our customers,” he said.
“Almost every day, somebody’s going to stop by and bring us something to eat,” he said.
That may be a bit like bringing coals to Newcastle, but it’s a neighborly gesture that Davidson appreciates.
“I really love this community,” he said. “In the three years we’ve been here, we’ve never had a problem with anybody.”
J&S Produce is at Trinity United Methodist Church in Homewood on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, 7 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information, check out the company’s Facebook page. ϖ
